The independent counsel investigating the presidential scandal Monday grilled top executives of South Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung, with reports suggesting the team may consider charging the group’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong with perjury. Choi Gee-sung, head of Samsung Group’s control tower Future Strategy Office, and deputy head Chang Choong-ki were summoned as witnesses by the special investigation team led by Park Young-soo in the morning. Both Chang and Choi a

UK will have 'control over borders' after Brexit: PMPrime Minister Theresa May on Sunday insisted that Britain will have "control over our borders" after Brexit, suggesting she would be prepared to quit Europe's trading zone to achieve it."The referendum vote was a vote for us to... bring control into our immigration system. I'm clear that is part of what we need to deliver," she told Sky News in an interview."We will be able to have control over our borders, of our laws."German leader Angela Me

Pope Francis encouraged women attending a ceremony in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday to feel free to breastfeed their children in the church."The ceremony is a little long, someone's crying because he's hungry. That's the way it is," the pontiff said."You mothers, go ahead and breastfeed, without fear. Just like the Virgin Mary nursed Jesus," he told worshippers attending an annual ceremony commemorating the baptism of Jesus.The Argentine pope on Sunday baptised 28 children -- 15 boys and 13 girls

A suicide bomber targeted Baghdad's main vegetable market Sunday, killing at least 12 people in the latest attack claimed by the Islamic State group as Iraqi forces battle the jihadists for Mosul.Iraqi forces have pushed IS out of much of the territory it once held, but this bombing and the many others that have preceded it highlight the danger the jihadists can pose to civilians even as they lose ground."A soldier at the gate of Jamila market opened fire on a suicide car bomb after noticing a s

The year 2016 saw a record number of people visit the four major palaces in the capital city of Seoul, the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) said Sunday. The CHA said the number of domestic and foreign visitors last year to the four palaces -- Gyeongbok, Changdeok, Changgyeong and Deoksu -- and Jongmyo Shrine amounted to 16.1 million, up by 17.8 percent from a year ago. Foreign visitors reached 3.83 million, passing the 3 million mark for the first time and up by a whopping 60.3 percent com

As the monetary policy committee of the country’s central bank is set to have its first meeting of the year on Friday, eyes are fixed on their decisions on benchmark interest rates and economic growth projection. At the meeting, the committee will unveil its revised growth target and decide on the interest rate.  The meeting is likely to cut the forecast for economic growth. In the previous projection in October, the Bank of Korea had set its gross domestic product forecast at a 2.8

Japan’s decision to suspend talks on a currency swap last Friday will have limited impact while caution is still advised, according to economists and experts. Song In-chang, deputy finance minister, played down a possible repercussion of the suspension of the bilateral currency swap deal, saying that “It wouldn’t have much impact as it is not like an existing program ended.” Sung Tae-yun, economics professor at Yonsei University said, “It is very unlikely that th

Samsung Heavy Industries, one of South Korea’s three biggest shipbuilders, won a 1.5 trillion won ($1.27 billion) order to build an offshore facility, the company said Thursday. It is the first mega offshore facility deal in the new year for the country’s shipbuilders, which suffered a sharp decline in orders last year. The combined annual new orders clinched by the country’s big three shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and

A plan to label China a currency manipulator, a pledge by US President-elect Donald Trump, might drag South Korea onto the manipulation list, according to analysis by a government-backed research center Thursday. In order to officially designate China a currency manipulator, the US needs to relax its existing standards or make new ones, the report by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy said.  “In such a case, it is likely that South Korea will be also subject to f

South Korea’s shipyards are poised to be overtaken by Japanese competitors in order backlogs for the first time in 17 years, preliminary data from a global shipping information firm showed on Wednesday. According to tentative data from UK-based Clarkson Research Service, South Korea’s backlogged orders stood at 19.91 million compensated gross tonnages, a measurement to gauge the amount of work that goes in the construction of a vessel, as of the end of December 2016. It compares with Japan’s pro

Korea’s shipments to China grew for a second consecutive month in December last year, data showed Tuesday, with short-term recovery expected. Exports to China account for more than 25 percent of the country’s total exports. They had declined for 16 consecutive months since July 2015, until inching up 0.4 percent in November last year.  The pace of recovery picked up in December last year, with a 9.6 percent increase on-year, according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Indus

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn asked each affiliate to focus on developing their core competency to lead future growth. “The advent of the fourth industrial revolution is a big challenge and opportunity for us,” Kim said Monday. “Based on the long-term trend, such as a decrease in the production population, we should beef up our future competency with new technology, new business and new markets.” The defense unit should aggressively expand in overseas markets w

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo on Monday urged the company to strive to overcome the uncertain business environment and achieve the group’s sales target of 8.25 million cars in the new year. “Trade protectionism is spreading and competition in the auto industry is intensifying, raising business uncertainty” Chung warned Monday during a New Year’s meeting. “We will have agile and flexible responses to changes in the external environment by ensuring in

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on the moves made by the companies and governments of South Korea, China and Japan in entering the new industry 4.0 era. This is the last installment. -- Ed. PANGYO, Gyeonggi Province -- The Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy and Innovation in Pangyo is one of South Korea’s innovation hotbeds with a unique blending of government and big companies. In mid-November, a group of nine reporters from three countries visited the center and

Overseas units of South Korean companies were in the red in 2015 for the first time since the global financial crisis, as the business environment in foreign countries has deteriorated, a report said Wednesday. A total of 6,045 overseas subsidiaries with more than $1 million in foreign direct investment logged a net loss of $4 billion in 2015, or $700,000 per company on average, declining 2.3 percent from a year ago, showed a report by the Overseas Economic Research Institute under the state-r

In coping with the difficult business environment in the competitive meeting, incentive, travel, convention and exhibition industry, globalization cannot be emphasized more, said Kim Sang-wook, president and CEO of the Exhibition and Convention Center, also known as EXCO, the country’s first regional exhibition center located in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province.“Starting from 2017, we will cooperate more with global event organizers to attract international events, while promoting the global adv

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles on the moves made by the companies and governments of South Korea, China and Japan in entering the new industry 4.0 era. This is the fourth installment. -- Ed. TOKYO -- For the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, Japan unveiled the Shinkansen bullet train, broadcast live TV images via satellite and used computers to record statistics, the first such attempt for the global games. Now, over five decades later and four years away from another Olym

More than three out of every 10 vehicles sold by Hyundai Motor Group this year in South Korea were recreational vehicles, auto sales figures showed Sunday. Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold 1.07 million cars here in the first 11 months of the year, among which 343,273 units, or 32 percent of total sales, were RVs. In 2011, less than 20 percent of vehicles sold by the two automakers were RVs. In Korea, the RV category includes sport utility vehicles and multipurpose vehicles. The growth has

The US fast food chain Dairy Queen has signed on to expand into South Korea, industry officials said Thursday. M2G USA Investment said it has signed an agreement with International Dairy Queen Inc., which owns the franchise, to open 50 DQ Grill & Chill stores here over the next five years.International Dairy Queen is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway led by famous investor Warren Buffet. Dairy Queen, commonly known as DQ, is a chain of fast food restaurants serving hamburgers, ice cream and oth

Diplomatic tensions have slowed the growth of Chinese tourists to South Korea, the national tourism promotion agency here said Thursday.According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the number of Chinese tourists to South Korea increased 1.8 percent year-on-year in November.The KTO explained tensions stemming from Seoul's decision in July to set up the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system, much to the chagrin of Beijing, have had adverse effects on tourism.South Korea